Grapevine - 6. page

Study Times published an article, on December 19, 2011, titled “Why Do Multinational Companies Become Corrupt in China?” Based on the analysis in the article, the reasons why multinational companies openly cheat Chinese consumers are 1) Incomplete laws; 2) Rampant corruption in China’s own business sector, including a variety means of unethical competition, dishonesty everywhere, product innovation not being respected and protected, and no one taking social responsibility; 3) Local governments tolerate multinational companies’ evil dongs in order to attract more foreign investments and be assured of a higher GDP; 4) Consumers feel helpless since they cannot find better products in domestic companies and they have difficulty taking group action against those corrupt multinational companies.

Source: Study Times, December 19, 2011
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2011/12/19/04/04_34.htm

On September 26, 2011, the Sohu website reprinted an article from Xinhua News Agency‘s Outlook Weekly regarding the integrity and ethics crisis in China. The original article from Outlook Weekly is no longer available online.

In discussing the recent news reports about recycled waste oil being taken from the sewers and widely used in China’s restaurants, the article’s author suggested two ways to deal with the integrity crisis: 1) establishing cultural values and cultivating cultural awareness; 2) strengthening the public and media’s watch capability, giving ordinary people more rights to know, to participate, and to speak out.

Source: Xinhua News Agency’s Outlook Weekly, September 26, 2011
http://news.sohu.com/20110926/n320531380.shtml

Economic Information, a publication under Xinhua News Agency, published an article on September 16, 2011, titled “Before China Gets Rich, It Will Be Overwhelmed with Old People.” Out of 23 provinces and 5 autonomous regions, 26 are considered to be aging societies, which means that senior citizens who are 65 years old or older comprise over 7% of the population.

According to China’s 6th National Population Census of 2010, 119 million people are 65 years old or over, which constitutes 8.87% of the total population of China; 177.65 million people are 60 years old or over, which is 13.26% of the total population. It is estimated that, within the next 5 years, China’s elderly population will increase to 221 million; that is, 16% of China’s population will be old people.

Source: Economic Information, September 16, 2011
http://www.jjckb.cn/opinion/2011-09/16/content_332540.htm

On September 11, 2011, China Review News (CRN) published an article titled “After 10 Years of Struggle, the United States Has Lost the Anti-Terrorist War.” Shao Yuqun, an Afghanistan expert and deputy director of the South Asia Research Center, Shanghai Institute of International Studies, told CRN that the United States rushed into the wrong war, misjudged the nature of the enemy, ruined its international image, consumed enormous human and material resources, and still has not curbed the terrorists. To the contrary, the United States has gotten itself into “an endless war with no resolution in sight.”

According to Shao Yuqun, when President Bush took office, he viewed China as a strategic competitor and was preparing to focus fully on dealing with China. However, 9/11 diverted the United States’ attention away from China. Over the past 10 years, while the United States was busy dealing with the terrorists, China developed rapidly, increasing its power in diplomatic discourse.

Source: China Review News, September 11, 2011
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1018/3/0/8/101830808.html?coluid=148&kindid=0&docid=101830808&mdate=0911002539

On September 13, 2011, China Review News published a commentary stating that the United States’ 10 years of counter-terrorism has shaken and weakened its dominant position in the world. Meanwhile, those 10 years of counter-terrorism enabled China, Russia, and other so-called “post-communist” countries to rise rapidly and join the global system.
 
The commentary concluded, “Those 10 years of counter-terrorism were 10 years over which the United States declined. What matters more is that, even if the United States can recover and find its lost self, the world around it will surely be quite different.”

Source: China Review News, September 13, 2011
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1018/3/2/1/101832146.html?coluid=1&kindid=0&docid=101832146&mdate=0913000715

Recently, an Internet posting titled “Nowadays Children from Poor Families Have Few Opportunities to Achieve Excellence” has attracted over 400,000 hits and more than 2,900 replies. A “teacher with 15 years of teaching experience” posted it. The posting said that students from rich families tend to have better grades because their parents have the money for extracurricular classes and even private tutors. Compared to 20 years ago, a student’s achievement is in inverse proportion to his family’s economic condition (Ed: Twenty years ago, China’s higher education provided a way for poor students to improve their social status.) Nowadays, studying hard is far from enough. Money produces good grades. Children from poor families lose from the start.

One reply said, “Due to the increased pressure to survive, poor people are no longer interested in a long-term investment in education.” Another reply said, “Education has been industrialized. Schools need to make money. Thus, children from wealthy families have more advantages. Many people are born into social classes.”

Source: Yangcheng Evening News, August 5, 2011
http://www.ycwb.com/ePaper/ycwb/html/2011-08/05/content_1179040.htm

Lafite is a trademark not registered in Mainland China. Château Lafite Rothschild, a wine estate in France, produces 15,000 to 25,000 cases of wine annually, or about 200,000 bottles. China’s annual quota of Lafite wine imported from France is only 50,000 bottles. However, the annual sale of Lafite in China exceeds 3 million bottles, meaning 80 to 90 percent of Lafite sold in China is fake. In less than 10 years, the price of Lafite has risen 857%.

Over time, Lafite in China has gradually lost its original nature and now serves a social function. It is used to judge someone’s economic situation. To show off their status, people dare not to comment on Lafite. Even if they have bought fake Lafite, they silently accept it, fearing ridicule for not being able to recognize true Lafite. Lafite’s high price and the reputation of the wine of kings satisfies the proclivity of government officials, who, at a party, must drink the best wine. The rising demand has resulted in a higher price for Lafite, which, in turn, makes Lafite more popular among government officials and elite groups. “Lafite,” a symbol of status, has become the “official wine.” The taste and color are no longer important. A businessman observed, “I cannot take the risk of not providing Lafite at the dinner table.” 

Source: news.163.com, August 15, 2011
http://news.163.com/11/0815/01/7BF99J6O00014JHT.html

On July 5, 2011, a Shenzhen local newspaper published a report calling public attention to the fact that some college and graduate students have become tools for making a profit. The article gives a few examples: graduate students call their advisor “boss” and spend a lot of time as cheap labor working on their advisor’s research and projects; in Xi’an, a music college forces poor female students to dance with bankers; the Nanjing Normal University forces female students to dance with government officials. Quite often, the college and university’s administrators use not issuing a diploma to force students into submission.